Warmoth went to New Orleans, which was still occupied by
Union Army troops. He specialized in the kind of
law practice for which his military experience had qualified him: cotton claims and courts-martial decisions. At the same time, he became an active Republican, gaining support among
freedmen. In November 1865, Warmoth ran for territorial delegate as a Republican in an unauthorized election, in which
black Louisianians cast over 19,000 votes, nearly as many as were won among whites by the victorious Democratic candidate for governor. Louisiana restricted the suffrage to
white males, so the
blacks' votes were not counted. Republicans hoped to show that full suffrage could result in competitive elections. By electing a territorial delegate, they were making the statement that no
legal state of Louisiana existed while it was occupied by the Union Army, and
Congress should remand it to the status of a territory. Congress did not do so. Because of continuing violence in the South, especially the
Memphis Riots of 1866 and the
New Orleans Massacre of 1866, Congress passed the
Reconstruction Act to create five military districts to oversee changes in the former Confederate states. It also passed the
Fourteenth Amendment to extend full citizenship to
freedmen. Louisiana and Texas were put under the
Fifth Military District, and the
US Army was assigned to oversee the process by which a new constitutional convention could be called, with delegates to be voted for by both blacks and whites alike. When the convention had finished its work, a ratification election was called and the
Republican Party chose a state ticket. Warmoth was selected as the nominee for governor over Major
Francis E. Dumas. He faced a Democrat and
Louisiana Supreme Court Justice
James G. Taliaferro, a planter and wartime Unionist backed by the True Radical faction, which was composed mostly of black Republicans. Taliaferro found some support from
Democrats.
Governor Warmoth carried the state by some 26,000 votes, and the Reconstruction constitution was ratified. Warmoth was sworn into office on July 13, 1868. Elected at 26, he was one of the youngest governors in United States history. (
Stevens T. Mason, the first governor of Michigan, was the youngest state governor, elected at 24.) Elected with Warmoth was
Oscar Dunn as
lieutenant governor, an African-American leader in the
Prince Hall Freemasons. He had a wide network in New Orleans, where he was a painting contractor. When Dunn died suddenly in office in 1871, he was succeeded by
P.B.S. Pinchback, a
person of color who was President of the
State Senate. Turbulence and some violence marred the April 1868 election. The rise of the
Ku Klux Klan over the summer worsened the disorder. By fall, night-riding, murder, and intimidation were common. The number of Republicans killed for political reasons may have approached 800. Large riots in outlying parishes and Democratic white
paramilitary forces in New Orleans kept thousands of blacks from voting in the fall
1868 presidential election. As a result, Democratic candidate for
President Horatio Seymour carried Louisiana, although his Republican opponent
Ulysses S. Grant carried the country. Because of the reported fraud and coercion, Warmoth created a State Returning Board, to certify future elections. All election returns were reported to the State Returning Board for validity and approval. At the same time, the governor augmented the military forces at his command: a 5,000-man state
militia and a Metropolitan Police force, with authority over the greater New Orleans area where the state government was then based. Warmoth also sought to broaden the Republican Party to include a larger share of the propertied white class. He supported government aid for
railroad construction and
levee repair, called for and got a constitutional amendment limiting the state's ability to go into debt, and vetoed
pork barrel bills. At his recommendation, the voters removed the provisions in the Reconstruction constitution that had temporarily disenfranchised a portion of the former Confederates. Warmoth appointed some former Confederates to office, notably General
James Longstreet. When he had a choice, Warmoth chose white applicants over black ones. Warmoth's 1868 inaugural address expressed his support for the recently passed Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments, pledging "equality before the law and the enjoyment of every political right of all the citizens of the state, regardless of race, color, or previous condition." He argued for the amendments to be supported by legislation that had popular as well as legislative support: only when this grand distinctive feature of the new constitution shall be stamped on every act of legislation, and when such legislation shall find approval and support in that general public sentiment which gives to law its vitality, will our State fairly enter upon that career of greatness and prosperity which the almighty designed for her. Warmoth signed a weak bill to integrate access to public facilities, but he vetoed a more extensive one that would penalize owners of public places and vehicles who failed to provide equal service to blacks and whites. In consequence, Republicans developed severe internal conflicts. A division arose between the Warmoth-Pinchback faction, supported by many
Creoles of color who had been
free before the war, and what was called the
Custom House faction, led by
Stephen B. Packard, a US Marshal, and James F. Casey, Collector of the Port of New Orleans and brother-in-law to President Grant. Although Warmoth had helped
William Pitt Kellogg gain legislative election as a US Senator, he became allied with Packard, as did
Oscar Dunn, lieutenant governor and African-American leader of many Republican
ward clubs in New Orleans. By 1871, every local
convention turned into a fracas. The Custom House wing of the Republican Party took control of the state convention, enforced by state militia. Warmoth's supporters had to assemble in a convention of their own. That winter, the governor seized control of the statehouse from his opponents by using the state militia forces outfitted with bayonets for protection. Warmoth's leadership was strained. Believing that President Grant supported his enemies, Warmoth joined the
Liberal Republican Party that was seeking a reform candidate for president. When it endorsed
Horace Greeley and the Democrats adopted Greeley as their presidential candidate, the governor carried his influence to Greeley's side. In state politics, that meant endorsing the
Fusionist-Democratic ticket of
John McEnery in the 1872 gubernatorial election. Such a step alienated Warmoth from any black Republican support that he still had, including that of Pinchback. None of them trusted Democrats to protect equal rights, whatever the politicians professed. Fraud and violence accompanied the election, and its results were contested. Both McEnery and
William Pitt Kellogg, the official Republican candidate, declared victory and held inaugurations. The Warmoth-appointed Returning Board declared McEnery as victor. Republicans established a separate Returning Board, which certified Kellogg. Ultimately, Grant supported Kellogg's Republican candidacy. The Republican-controlled legislature filed
impeachment charges against Warmoth for his actions during the 1872 election. Only 35 days before the end of his term, he was suspended from office, as called for by Louisiana law for impeached officials, pending the outcome of a state senate trial. Pinchback was sworn in and became the second acting African-American governor in U.S. history. With the end of Warmoth's term soon reached, Warmoth was allowed to leave office and no
impeachment trial was held. ==After Reconstruction==